Arrangement for beds and other reclining or seating furniture

ABSTRACT

In an adjustable arrangement for reclining or seating furniture, where the furniture has two or more mutually adjustable articulated members (R, S, F), which together form an adjustable frame for support of a mattress, cushion, upholstery or the like, where the adjustable frame is mounted in a support member (A) by means of horizontal axles/dowels, stays/sliding elements or the like, which constitute fulcrums ( 2, 3, 5 ) for the mutually adjustable, articulated members (R, S, F), where the back member (R) has a fixed fulcrum ( 2 ) in relation to the support member (A), located at a distance from the linkage ( 1 ) to the seat member, and where the adjustment of the furniture&#39;s respective articulated members is performed by means of a spring mechanism ( 17 ) which is arranged between an arm ( 6 ) on the underside of the back member (R) and a point on the support member (A), the furniture&#39;s seat member (S) is designed with an extension member (T,  8, 12 ) preferably arranged between the seat member and the back member.

The invention concerns an adjustable arrangement for reclining orseating furniture, wherein the piece of furniture has three mutuallyadjustable, articulated members, constituting a back member (R), a seatmember (S) and a foot member (F), which together form an adjustableframe for support of a mattress, cushion, upholstery or the like, wherethe adjustable frame is mounted in a support member (A) by means ofhorizontal axles/dowels/stays/sliding elements or the like, whichconstitute fulcrums (2, 3, 5) for the mutually adjustable, articulatedmembers (R, S, F), where the back member (R) and one of the two otherelements (S or F) have a fixed, immovable fulcrum (2) in relation to thesupport member (A), the fulcrum of the back member being located at adistance from the linkage (1) to the seat member, and by which:

a) the seat member's fulcrum (3) or the foot member's fulcrum (5) isimmovable and securely attached to the support member's (A) suspensionpoint (12 or 13),

b) the fulcrum (3 or 5) which is not immovable and securely attached tothe support member (A) is movable forwards and backwards in thefurniture's longitudinal direction in sliding elements/sliding tracks(12 or 13) on the support member (A),

The terms reclining or seating furniture describe all types of furniturewhere it may be appropriate to adjust the user position, e.g. a bed,chaise longue, divan, bench, sofa, chair, etc. The furniture frame,composed of articulated parts, which forms the support for thefurniture's upholstery, arrangement of cushions, a mattress or the like,is mounted in a support member, which may be a side member, gable, frameor other fixed components. The terms furniture, frame, support memberare used in the following and in the patent claims are based on thesedefinitions. In this connection it should also be noted that the supportfor the mattress, cushions etc. will naturally also form the support forthe user of the furniture.

There are previously known a great number of different designs ofadjustable reclining or seating furniture. Examples of such articulateddesigns can be found in the applicant's international patentapplications nos. WO97/37567, WO98/37792 and WO98/37791. Articulatedfurniture of this kind is widely used within the health sector, e.g. inconnection with hospital beds, but is also employed to anever-increasing extent as ordinary furniture. The adjustments of thefurniture's parts to the various user positions may be performed bymotor power, which may be electrically, hydraulically or pneumaticallydriven. Other possibilities are mechanical operation via adjustinglevers, or by the user taking hold of a part of the furniture and movingit by hand. In this connection it is referred to Norwegian Patent number43103. An arrangement with two adjustable members is shown in DE OSnumber 1 779 576.

The present invention concerns adjustable reclining or seating furniturein which it should be possible to perform the adjustment entirelywithout or with minimal help from external power sources, while at thesame time it should be possible to perform the adjustment of thefurniture with a minimal exercise of force, directly by the user whilehe is reclining/sitting on the piece of furniture. Thus it should bepossible to perform a readjustment of the furniture, e.g. from areclining position to a sitting position and back or to assumeintermediate positions, essentially by the user simply performing a“natural movement”, with the result that the furniture “follows” whenthe user readjusts from one position to the other.

In WO 98/37791 an example of this type is described, where a springmechanism, e.g. a gas spring is adapted in such a manner that a user canalter the angular position between back member, seat member and possiblyfoot member merely by leaning forward or back against the back member.The furniture can be locked in the desired position by locking thespring mechanism.

When this furniture is used with a cover such as a mattress, in the areabetween the seat and the back a “compression” will be formed, where themattress is shifted by a displacement of the seat member, thus producinga certain amount of additional resistance from the mattress, which alsohas to be overcome.

This can lead to a rather uneven resistance which has to be overcomewith the result that the user has to use more force in certainpositions.

The object of the present invention is to avoid this problem and providean embodiment of a piece of furniture of the type mentioned in theintroduction, which offers less mattress resistance and thereby a moreuniform exercise of force for the user over the area of movement of thewhole piece of furniture. This is achieved with an arrangement of thetype mentioned in the introduction, which is characterized by thefeatures presented in the patent claims.

By simple means the invention offers the advantage that the seat membercan also be rotated about a fixed axis point, possibly with only a smalllateral movement, with the result that the mattress's resistance to achange in shape does not affect the movement. In addition the user willalso move to a minimal extent in the furniture's longitudinal directionduring adjustment, thereby also reducing the requirement for adjustmentforce. During adjustment the mattress's seat and foot members willthereby be able to remain almost at rest on the adjustment system'sapproximately immovable seat and foot members on account of, among otherthings, the user's weight and material friction. The seat member'sextension enables the mattress's back portion to bend about themattress's own almost stationary seat and foot members, thereby only“inching” to a minimal extent in the furniture's longitudinal directionduring adjustment.

It will hereby be possible to alter the angle between the back and seatmembers between 180° and up to approximately 90° while the angle betweenthe seat and foot members may be altered between 180° and up toapproximately 220°.

The inventive concept is based on the fact that the seat member isequipped with an extension member which is particularly advantageouslyarranged between the seat member and the back member. In its simplestform this extension is designed as a rod extension, which istelescopically movable in a tube member of the seat member's frame. Thetelescopic extension may in itself be a gas spring or an electricalactuator. However, the invention also includes other types of devicesfor achieving the desired extension, e.g. the extension member may be inthe form of a scissors member or a rod which is movable in a guide trackon an arm on the bottom of the back member. All such embodiments areintended to fall within the term extension member.

The invention will now be explained in more detail by means of theembodiment which is illustrated in the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the principles of the presentinvention in a first embodiment of a piece of reclining furniture,

FIGS. 2a-2 b are an enlarged part view illustrating two positions of theembodiment in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1, also illustrating thebalancing spring mechanism,

FIG. 4 is a part view on an enlarged scale of FIG. 3 illustratingvarious positions in connection with the invention,

FIGS. 5a-5 b are a part view of an illustration of a second embodimentof the invention in two alternatives,

FIGS. 6a-6 b are a corresponding view of a third embodiment of theinvention.

The illustrations in the figures are based on an adjustable frame witharticulated parts, based on the principles which are described in WO97/37567 and equipped with a balancing mechanism of the type which isdescribed in WO 98/3779.1. Details regarding the design of theadjustable piece of furniture and the balancing mechanism are found inthe two above-mentioned patent applications.

The furniture's adjustable frame is composed of a back member R, a seatmember S and a foot member F. It is also possible to employ theinvention on a frame consisting of only two parts, e.g. R and S, or alsoa frame consisting of more than three parts.

The fulcrums for the three frame members illustrated in the drawing aredesignated 2, 3 and 5 respectively, while the linkages between backmember and seat member and between seat member and foot memberrespectively are designated 1 and 4. In FIGS. 3 and 4 the frame'ssupport member A is indicated by a dash and dot line. In the areabetween the back member's fulcrum 2 and the linkage to the seat member Sthere is provided a downwardly projecting arm 6 which is securelyconnected with the back member R. This arm forms one of the mountingsfor the spring mechanism described in international patent applicationno. WO98/37791, which is omitted in FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIGS. 3 and 4 thisspring mechanism in the form of a gas spring is illustrated, but is notdescribed in more detail since the description from the saidinternational patent application is included as a reference. Accordingto a first embodiment of the present invention, in the seat member'sframe structure there is inserted a telescopic extension tube, which isdesignated by T in the drawing. This extension tube T extends from thearticulation point 1 and is passed in a tubular element on the seatmember S. As illustrated by a dot-dash line the back member R can beraised to a sitting position, thereby causing a rotation of the seatmember about the fulcrum 3 which in the illustrated embodiment is afixed fulcrum. By means of this movement the telescopic rod T will beextended, causing an extension of the seat member. A mattress lying onthis frame will thereby remain at rest and will only sink down accordingto the new frame position. FIGS. 2a and 2 b illustrate this design in anenlarged view.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate in a more complete way the principles for apiece of furniture designed with arrangements according to theinvention. Also illustrated here is the position of the balancingcylinder 17 which is attached between a point 14 on the arm 6 and apoint on the frame A, which is designated 15 from where an arm canextend to an attachment point 16. Here the gas spring will balance theforce which is required for adjustment between the extended position andthe position illustrated by a broken line. The movements of the footmember are not described in more detail, since this movement and designdo not form part of the present invention, but are described in one ofthe initially mentioned international patent applications WO97/37567,WO98/37792 and WO98/37791.

FIGS. 5a and 5 b illustrate a variant of the first embodiment, whereinstead of using a telescopic extension member, an extension member isemployed which works according to the scissors principle. In thisembodiment an articulated mechanism 8 is used consisting of two arms,connected to back member R at point 1 and to the seat member S at point7. In order to stabilise the articulated arm mechanism 8, an elasticjoint 10 is inserted between points 1 and 7 to control the movement.FIG. 5b illustrates the mode of operation for this embodiment.

Alternatives illustrated include a double scissors, where thearticulated arm mechanism 8 also has a symmetrical part 8′ in theopposite direction, where the joints are connected with one another atpoint 9′. In this case the elastic joint 10 may be omitted. In a partview there is also illustrated a simplified design, where there isinserted between the back member R and the seat member S a rigid rodelement 18 which is rotatable about points 1 and 7, thereby constitutinga similar movement arrangement to that in FIG. 5a. This design, however,will provide larger angular movements and preferably also exploit acertain amount of horizontal movement of the fulcrum 3.

FIGS. 6a and 6 b illustrate a third embodiment, where rotatablearticulated arms are also employed. In this case an arm is provided inthe end portion of the back member R and this arm is equipped with aguide track 20. The rotatable articulated arm 19 which leads from point7 to point 1 will here lead to a controlled extension of the seat memberS when the articulated arm's connection point 1 is moved in the track20. It should be pointed out that this arm will be in addition to thepreviously mentioned arm 6 for the spring mechanism, the arm 6advantageously being mounted in the central portion of the frame.

The invention may be designed in many different ways, as illustrated inthe embodiments, and it will also be within the scope of the inventionif the extension is not undertaken in the end portion of the seatmember, but, e.g., in an area located within the end portion, possiblyin the portion which is connected to the foot member. The latter variantwill require the fulcrum 3 to have a certain amount of movement, whilethe fulcrum of the foot member can be fixed. In all the embodiments theproposed extension can be combined with a certain amount of horizontalmovement of the fulcrum 3 in order to achieve a desired special patternof rotation of the parts relative to one another.

In all the embodiments it will be possible to alter the angle betweenthe back and seat members between 180° and up to approximately 90° whilethe angle between the seat and foot members may be altered between 18°and up to approximately 220°.

What is claimed is:
 1. An adjustable article of furniture, comprisingthree mutually adjustable, articulated members, constituting a backmember, a seat member and a foot member, connected to each other bymeans of linkages, and which together form an adjustable support frame,where the adjustable frame is mounted in a support member by means formounting, which constitute fulcrums for the mutually adjustable,articulated members where the back member and one of the two otherelements have a fixed, immovable fulcrum in relation to the supportmember, the fulcrum of the back member being located at a distance fromthe linkage to the seat member, the seat member's fulcrum or the footmember's fulcrum is immovable and securely attached to the supportmember, and the fulcrum which is not immovable is movable forwards andbackwards in the furniture's longitudinal direction on the supportmember, an extension member on the furniture between the seat member andthe back member which provides an extension for the furniture having aminimum length when the angle between the back and seat members is 180°and a maximum when the said angle is approximately 90° while the anglebetween the seat and foot members thereby will be 180°, andapproximately 220°, and a spring mechanism between an arm on the bottomof the back member and a point on the support member in order toneutralize and/or overcome the forces which at any time influence theadjustable frame's various connected levers when the user is seated inthe article of furniture, in order thereby to be able to move theadjustable frame from one position to another when the user is seated inthe article of furniture.
 2. An adjustable article of furnitureaccording to claim 1, wherein the extension member is composed of atleast one telescopic rod.
 3. An adjustable article of furnitureaccording to claim 1, wherein the extension member is composed of asingle scissors mechanism on the bottom of the back/seat member andconnected to the ends of the back member and the seat member which arefacing each other.
 4. An adjustable article of furniture according toclaim 2, wherein the telescopic extension is provided in the areabetween the end point of the back member and the fulcrum of the seatmember.
 5. An adjustable article of furniture, comprising three mutuallyadjustable, articulated members, constituting a back member, a seatmember and a foot member, connected to each other by means of linkages,and which together form an adjustable support frame, where theadjustable frame is mounted in a support member by means for mounting,which constitute fulcrums for the mutually adjustable, articulatedmembers where the back member and one of the two other elements have afixed, immovable fulcrum in relation to the support member, the fulcrumof the back member being located at a distance from the linkage to theseat member, the seat member's fulcrum or the foot member's fulcrum isimmovable and securely attached to the support member, and the fulcrumwhich is not immovable is movable forwards and backwards in thefurniture's longitudinal direction on the support member, an extensionmember on the furniture between the seat member and the back memberwhich provides an extension for the furniture having a minimum lengthwhen the angle between the back and seat members is 180° and a maximumwhen the said angle is approximately 90° while the angle between theseat and foot members thereby will be 180°, and approximately 220°, aspring mechanism between an arm on the bottom of the back member and apoint on the support member in order to neutralize and/or overcome theforces which at any time influence the adjustable frame's variousconnected levers when the user is seated in the article of furniture, inorder thereby to be able to move the adjustable frame from one positionto another when the user is seated in the article of furniture, andwherein the extension member includes at least one rod element on theseat member movable in a track in an arm on the bottom of the backmember.